It's Twins!

{Thought that headline may garner your attention!}

That headline is in reference to describe the delivery on our doorstep last night, which leads me to a funny moment I need to capture and remember for posterity's sake.

Simple Backstory: Barbara wants a real baby. As in brother or sister. She asks for one almost every other day. It is explained to the child that she can certainly have one of her own in another, oh, 23 years or so. But mommy won't be honoring such a request as one of her upcoming 3rd birthday wishes.

So back to the story... I spied a brown UPS box on the doorstep as I pulled up the driveway tonight. It completely escaped me as to what it was- I, for the life of me, could not remember making any recent online purchases. I chalked it up to a random snowmobile accessory or dirt bike part that had arrived for Greg. Curious, I told Barbie that there was a mystery delivery on the doorstep and we went to retrieve it together to see what had arrived.

Picking up the box, I saw that it was addressed to me. SWEET! (I'm officially giddy now)

In my out loud narrative half to myself, half to Barbara, I explained it was something for mommy and I didn't recognize the return address. "I wonder what is inside- let's open it together!" As we walked into the kitchen to retrieve a box opener, she had an idea of what it could be and sweetly inquired:

Is it a real baby?!?

A good chuckle ensued. Then a snort. Then another little giggle. In her little mind she has effectively eliminated the UPS man as an option of where babies come from.

What was inside the box? Twin girls, namely Stella & Dot (which I had indeed ordered after attending BFF's S+D party last weekend)! Check my new little arrivals out below:

Heavy Mental

What is it about this time of year that makes everything seem so heavy?

Is it the ten pounds of clothes we must wear in order to step outside without freezing our hineys off?

Is it the ten pounds we gained during the 6-week bender we go on during the Holidays?

Is it the lack of sunlight?

I don't know about you, but I feel, well... heavy. And I'm in the mood to lighten up. I'm burnt out on the heavy comfort food of winter and crave a good salad. Or anything charbroiled for that matter. I'm jonesing to wear short sleeves in the office again. I'd like a good frozen margarita—Poolside. I'm dreaming of leisurely strolls on the boardwalk after dinner, making fun of the tourists.

I'm ready for green, folks. Bunnies in the yard, the smell of fresh-cut grass clippings, and the peals of thunder that vibrate the dishes in my kitchen. I miss the fresh contrast of the sensations of warm sun and sand under my toes and cool breezes off the still chilly lake.

Whatever it is that makes the time between the months of April to early September seem like life is so much easier, I'm for it. Now.

So how does one "act as if" it's Spring. That, my friends, is my assignment this week. I will let you know.

Faking like we LIKE winter

So evidently you can't pre-type posts on satellite programs and simply cut and paste them into blogger for posting later. I've lost two nice posts this week that way, and there's just something anti-climactic (sp?) about retyping after the moment of expression has passed. It just seems like old news, you know?

Anyways, onward with fresh material. Here are a few snaps of some outside winter frivolity last weekend:



Chilled to the bone doesn't even begin to cover it. Our noses were on continual drip for hours after spending about 45 minutes outside. But it was fun. And now I have Frosty to scare the crap out of me every night I turn on the porchlight and let Scout outside.

I found this little beauty this week in my travels and can't wait to dig in! I am enjoying the challenge of learning something new. I am not enjoying taking apart my machine to unbind it after renegade threads come loose and wreak havoc. Grrr....

My New Year's Revolution

I have an aversion to that 'r' word. I believe that word is used too loosely. Resolution has a flaky, waffly quality about it. It's a soft word, it even sounds wimpy.... like serendipity or redundancy. To acknowledge my goals as resolutions I may as well be saying 'things that sound nice ideally, but I'm not putting much stock in the idea of them actually happening'.

I gave a lot of thought to them last week. In light of my recent epiphany in regards to planning and goal-oriented forward thinking-ness, I came to the conclusion that less is more. I'm committing to doing more with less this year, in so many more ways than one.

Below is my edited list posted not so much as to impress my meager blog following, but more as an effort to hold myself accountable. They say writing down your goals is the first step in bringing them to fruition. Well if that's the first step, then proclaiming them for all your family, friends and otherwise to read and hold you to them should bring me a few strides closer than that. Without further ado, I present my list for 2010:

1. Make some really great art with my little Rebel.


2. Learn how to sew; specifically window treatments for the house and matching sundresses for Barbie and I to rock this summer.
   
3. Finally have loosened hamstrings. All my life I have never been able to do this (this is the stuff that keeps me up at night, folks):
   



4. Try to do something physical every day. (I hear those snickers... Oh that he would be THAT lucky!)


5. Practice my interior re-design skills on a semi-professional level for friends and acquaintances with the intention of figuring out what to do with this God-given talent of mine.


6. Pay off my credit card (note singular) EVERY. DAMN. MONTH. This implies spending less... but everyone says that on their resolutions, don't they?


7. This one is omitted to protect the identities of the innocent.


8. Ditto for this one.
   
   There you have it friends--my 2010 New Years Revolution. Happy new decade.

Christmas: Acts I & II

A few shots from Christmas weekends at both of our families' homes. It was a whirlwind tour from December 18th until December 26th... So whirlwind that I am now just getting around to blogging about it.

And with that draws close 2009 year in pictures on this blog. I look forward to keeping better tabs on Composed Fresh- if only just a small post every other day or so.

Snowed in and other stuff

I voluntarily snowed myself in today at home. It was fantastic. Nails were did. Wrapping was done. More Canon Rebel bible was read. As well as another literary visit to Forks with all its vampire and werewolf goodness. Even had a nice breakfast with my daughter before I sent her off to school. And the day went by at a nice SLOW pace. 

I'm starting to believe in sunglass karma. In my lifetime I have come upon two or three pairs of designer shades in my possession as happy accidents. It seems almost in direct proportion of acquiring new eyewear, the shades that I purchase seem to disappear with as much ease. Its maddening. Someone somewhere is walking around with some nice polarized Revos. And last week, a super cute pair of Jackie-O's went back into the give-and-take universe that is karma. I just hope she enjoys them. 

Last week I was engrossed in wrapping up a project (read: mess) in the guest room. I have been slowly unloading the contents of Barbie's closet filled with clothing from the very beginning and sorting it into labelled and sized totes. Not sure what we are doing with the contents at this point other than stacking them up in the guest room closet while we consider their fate. If Webster is looking for a visual of the word PROCRASTINATION (or DENIAL for that matter), this closet is a pretty good example.

Many tears were shed as the micro-sized onesies and sweet-smelling receiving blankets saw the light of day for the first time in almost 3 years. Barbara was intrigued and raided the piles of the little ensembles and proclaimed 'dibs' on her choices heirmarked for her babies. She had to keep asking why I was crying, which is really difficult to put into words that a toddler can understand. I hugged her a lot during the process and she most certainly now must think I may be a bit more unstable than she previously thought. All this in preparation for her big girl room transformation. Santa will be bringing a big girl bed this year. And a new chapter begins. More on this minor remodel project to come. 

Speaking on procrastination, I tackled a project recently that I had been putting off because of fear... repotting and downsizing my beloved fern. The time had come and I was convinced that it would make it a healthier, stronger plant.

I've been a mommy to this fern since 1988. It has moved with me 6 times. It had nearly died from dehydration more times than I can remember. Its survived the wrath of both a new puppy (who chewed off the entire bottom wrung) and a grabby infant learning to walk (looking for a handle). I bit the bullet a few weeks ago and did it while the weather was still good. Carefully I separated the two overgrown stalks from the smaller, more healthier one and repotted it in a new container with new dirt.

Over the past few weeks it looks very reminiscent of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. I killed it. I am so bummed.

Thanksgiving 2009

It’s been a looonnng time since I relished what a 4-day weekend feels like. Not having to wake up, do hair and don heels at an ungodly hour for 4 consecutive days was pure delight. A brief recap of the weekend’s events....

Wednesday night, the biggest bar night of the year, we joined the revelry at Jack’s in Spring Lake with some friends of ours. Good drinks and an even better band. Classic Fix is a fantastic classic rock cover band! These guys can perform ANYONE! Spot on covers of Journey, Van Halen, Boston, Aerosmith, Skynrd,... etc. We will most definitely follow scheduled local appearances this year and catch them again.  They play Kirby House and Jack’s pretty regularly.

{ Downtown Grand Haven all dressed up for the holidays }

Thursday morning brought the only exception of not sleeping in. I rolled out of bed, rocked a ballcap and braved the local Meijer in 24 hour old makeup to pick up our neatly packaged feast. I totally caved this year and ordered it up on Monday. They put on a mean spread for about $45. No brainer. Holiday meal-- check. 

Parents arrived around noonish and the snorgling of a certain tiny face began. Books were read. Babies were played. Puzzles were put together. 

{ This was on the table by 3. Then again at 7. Rinse, lather and repeat for the next 2 days. }

Once again my tired, bust*ss Christmas tree was taken out of storage and assembled. Once more I swore this is the final year before I put it out of its misery. Branches are snapping off left and right this time.  Evidently there is a limit to how many times the branches can be “fluffed”. B wanted to help, of course. Its a good thing it was a team effort, or else the tree would be about 3 foot tall and resemble a semicircle. That’s about how long the project had her attention.

While the rest of the crazies lined up for an early morning start to the shopping season, we stayed home and sipped hot cocoa, watched cartoons and read the paper. It was pure perfection. Later in the day moms watched B. so we could slip away to finally see New Moon, probably the first theatre experience we have had together in about 4-5 years, I’d venture to guess. Despite what the critics are saying, I thought  it was great! I may even be officially switching my alliances to Team Jacob (well, Edward was sort of a tool in this episode...)

{ Go team Jake! }

On Saturday my folks left for home and our good friends from Alabama stayed the night en route of their return trip home. It was a quiet evening relatively speaking and  a good visit. Lori and I watched Obsessed, that fatal attraction flick with Beyonce in it. Best part of the whole dang movie- Beyonce catches the psycho secretary in her (the family’s) house alone. Ensue butt kicking of one skinny blonde biatch. We laughed ourselves silly.

On Sunday with all of our company gone, we retreated to the mall for some light Christmas shopping. While strolling past the North Pole, I hoisted Barbara up to get a good look at Santa Claus... “the REAL Santa Claus” she was informed. To my utter disbelief she started to make a beeline to completely bypass the line of kids waiting and get up close and personal. My kid- the one that is forever hiding behind me in social situations and practically crawls up my backside when strangers dote on her in public. When I asked, she stated matter of factly that she wanted to see him and would not cry. $20 later we have the moment captured on Kodak Gold. She did it, folks. Sat on his lap-- talked to him-- the whole works. If I didn’t have the picture as evidence, I’d swear it never happened. 

It wasn’t 5 minutes later she was flailing on the floor of Bed, Bath and Beyond in full tantrum mode. Within earshot of the fat man. I have a new bargaining chip in my arsenal.  

Sweet.